Forgotten Memories, Forgotten Embers
by Hyliaelvulcanish Bard Of Death
Summary: Link is returning home to Kokiri Forest after a long excursion... but he encounters a centuries-old terror threatening his home upon his return! Set in OOT. Barely A/U. Based on the idea that Link and Zelda reincarnate over generations. Short story, only one chapter. If you like dragons and detailed descriptions, you might enjoy. Oneshot.


**Hey, so this is my first story uploaded here on FF, but before you read, keep in mind I didn't originally intend for this to be a "fan fiction" story. It was written for my LA class, we were assigned to write about a dragon slayer, so I thought:**

**Dragon slayers are heroes.**

**The most awesome hero ever is the Hero of Time.**

**Therefore, the Hero Of Time is a dragon slayer, or a potential one anyway.**

**So, the assignment is asking me to write about Link! x) ****Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy!**

**Please review when done- I might actually keep writing just for kicks if people like this.**

Forgotten Embers, Forgotten Memories (The Legend Of Zelda)

Link warily tread through the Lost Woods, glancing about the thick masses of verdance, all while sniffing in the distinct odor of pine and spruce. Weaving through the crowd of leafy inhabitants of the great wood, he came upon a clearing. _Finally_, he thought. _I'm at the border of the Kokiri village._ But as he took in his surroundings and revisited his memories of the forest, he saw this couldn't be. There was not supposed to be a clearing here- this place was nonexistent.

When he left the forest with Navi the fairy to save Hyrule from Ganondorf (it seemed so long ago…) he had to travel several miles past the Deku Tree to exit the forest into Hyrule Field.

He'd hardly been on foot for an hour, leaving his horse, Epona, back at Lon Lon Ranch with Malon, as she wouldn't like the dense foliage Link would have to cut through to reach his old home. What devilry was this? This could not possibly be the entrance, it was miles off.

Always on the alert, Link scanned the small field, noticing the charred grass and trampled undergrowth… this was not meant to be. Fallen trunks lay on top of the pine needles and grass, their ashen remains mingling with the morning dew. Spying a large trail that seemed to bite into the landscape on the other side of the field, Link ran across the defoliated area, wondering what creature would have the power and the gall to slash through an acre of the forest so viciously.

Link stared ahead in disbelief. A wide, continuous path had been burned through the forest, freshly charred, with ash and smoking cedar roots everywhere.

Straightening his sword sheath, he started down the path, rounding a bend as it sharply curved toward… Kokiri Forest?!

His friends… no, they had been more than that… his adoptive family, they were in trouble! They were all he had of his childhood memories. The very thought of them being threatened filled his heart with a great dread.

He threw his left arm over his shoulder for his sword, gripping the hilt so hard his knuckles turned a pale white. Drawing it out quickly, he hurtled down the path, expertly avoiding roots and stones as he had learned to in his younger years, the days when he lived with his Kokiri friends… as he ran in a hot rage, seeking vengeance on the one who would dare threaten his home, his mind traveled back to the days when he did not even know of knives and sorcery, before he met death and sorrow. Days of happiness…. Days of peace and wellbeing. Splashing through the glade with Saria, pranking Mido… the Kokiri had been the closest thing to a family he'd known. He'd fought Ganon, slain countless Skultulla, and rescued the princess from death's clutches, always treasuring the golden memories of home and family, swearing to return home someday.

But now, all he had ever known in his childhood was threatened… by this dark terror he'd never come across. The thought filled him with dread, his heart pounding with rage as he dodged another tree, avoiding a stump still spewing ash.

Then he heard it.

An ear-deafening roar sounded through the wood, sending a mighty tremor akin to a thunderclap zooming outwards, buffeting Link backwards a few steps.

The scream of a Kokiri child rent the thick cloud of ominous fear, sparking a rage in his heart, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Link yelled a blood-chilling warcry, and bolted through the forest, slashing through anything that dare impede his fury-driven charge with his fabled blade, the Master Sword, said to repel evil itself. The path grew hotter and hotter with each step, the burns and lacerations on the trees he had grown up with looking fresher and fresher.

Then he was greeted by terror itself. Link's heart skipped a beat: this monstrosity, almost verily risen from hell itself, had not been sighted since a century after the first dawn of Hyrule, when the goddesses ascended to the heavens after creating the world Hylians knew and loved. However, millennia later, during Ganon's evil reign of Hyrule, there had been rumors the evil wizard had been summoning and resurrecting ancient demons and animating them into physical forms through dark sorcery… the rumors died down as Ganon did under Link's blade. But now, as this reptilian, brutal, savage behemoth towered over the treetops, Link promised himself that he'd never trust rumors again. Or the lack of them, for that matter.

The reanimated demon-dragon's body was blood-red; its scales glistened in the sunlight, though the reflections showed nothing; not even the sky, as if the dragon was not even there, not even supposed to be existing in this physical dimension… but Ganon's black magic had granted him access to physical form in the land of the living. A greenish, sulfuric smoke drifted out of his mammoth nostrils, his eyes roving madly like some crazy eight ball.

The village was a mere 100 yards off; it was up to him to stop the leviathan from destroying all that was dear to him. The very sight of this demon made him quiver… not with fear, but near-insatiable rage. As screaming Kokiri children scampered away from the dragon, dropping baskets of deku nuts as they went, Link decided to use It. If he ever wanted to see Saria… or the other Kokiri… or his friend Malon, or Epona, or anyone he had ever called friend or family in this life again, he would have to let loose the ultimate power. This was no foe he could take down alone.

He didn't want to ever have to use it again, but it was time- surely the goddesses would allow him to unleash the power of the Triforce after saving their land from evil.

Removing the glove he always kept on his left hand, he placed his right hand on top of the arcane tattoo of a fractal triangle emblazoned on his skin, and began to summon the Power. The tattoo he had was from no mortal's parlor- it was magically placed there, only for his use, allowing him to use the power of the Triforce, the golden triad of triangles the golden goddesses had created at the beginning of time to help steward Hyrule. Whoever possessed all three of the triangles held the key to limitless power… Link's entire frame shuddered as he felt the invigorating flow of pure energy surge through his very being. Channeling his rage and determination through the Triforce, Link unleashed a bloodcurdling yell of righteous rage, raising his fabled blade high, and thundered down upon his adversary.

He struck like a viper, leaping high into the air, landing on his hideous foe's armor-plated backside, plunging the legendary blade deep into his hated enemy's spine. The dragon released an eardrum-rending scream, swinging its tail, batting Link off his back, as if he were no more than a midge from the Zora swamplands. But Link was not so easily trifled with. As he flew through the air, he pointed toward the heavens with a shout, and behold, the sky grew black as the night, and a mighty thunderclap sounded forth from the skies, rolling out like fresh kegs of retribution.

Lightning rent through the sky, slicing through the dark starry curtain like a celestial knife, madly streaking down from the empyrean realm through the expanse between land and the vault of heaven, striking the Master Sword with a loud, resonating _BZING,_ the clear, metallic tone echoing endlessly through the confused, chaotic time flux...as this occurred, Link had rolled into the grass, not harmed by the fall off of the reptile's back, fumbling madly in his haversack for something. As the lightning was zipping down, tearing the cosmic curtain, he pulled out the Ocarina of Time, given to him by Princess Zelda of Hyrule after emerging from the Sacred Realm. Placing it to his lips, he played six notes in quick succession, and as the electricity charged the blade with arcane lightning, time itself seemed to slow Link cared not; he was unaffected by the Ocarina's temporal flux. Unleashing a raw, hell-raising yell, he leaped into the air, catapulting off of a bendy tree, and flipping thrice through the air, gaining altitude as he called on the limitless resources of the Triforce, sending throbs through his very fiber.

Time no longer existed for him. He focused on one thing: the fond memories he shared with the Kokiri of his childhood. This creature from the depths of hell had no dibs on that. This place was his; no monster would be crashing through his territory.

Pointing his blade earthward, he dropped from the sky like a rock, embedding the electrified sword into the monster's brain, using the Triforce to enhance the electrocution.

The monster's entire body fried with the overload, its spasms contorting it into crazy forms and angles, all while screaming uncontrollably. Like he had been taught so long ago in a past life, Link raised his sword skyward, charging it with the power Hylia had bestowed upon the timeless blade, and as the blade's hue climaxed to a purplish glow, another thunderclap sounded as Link released a mighty slash, lopping of the demon's head with a lateral, cyclonic wave of pure energy cauterizing the amputation as it also executed it.

As the screams died away, echoing in the ocarina-induced time-warp, Link released the power of the Triforce, and also let go of the control on the flow of time. As he stared into the now-shrouded, cinereal skies, one final thunderous boom rolled out of the celestial bellows, and rain began to fall. He shuddered, suddenly feeling cold and tired as the power faded from his grasp… Wearily gathering up his things, Link looked off into the distance. A warm glow emanated from his old home, inviting him to return and live his childhood memories again.

Exiting the scene as the rain went about sizzling out the flame and smoke, a familiar form materialized out of the mist in the clearing up ahead. It was Saria. Running up to her and greeting his old friend with a long hug, Link and Saria walked back home, chatting amiably about times past and new experiences.

And all was well in Kokiri Forest, and he lived happily to the end of his days.

**Hope you enjoyed, please please _please_ review! Even if it's a few words, you have no idea how much it means to me!**

**Oh, and: **

**1) Yeah. This doesn't stick to any one game.**

**2) I knooow! It's overdone _ but it was fun to write nonetheless. I prefer descriptions to dialogue, as you can probably tell.**

**3) If you liked this story, please leave a review.**

**4) If you hated this story, please leave a review ;D constructive criticism is something I really really need and appreciate.**

**Farore bless you all,**

**~ blissis33**


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